Former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has made it clear that his wife was not the one who persuaded him to leave the Emirates Stadium in the summer transfer window.
The Switzerland international was one of the Gunners’ best players last season as they surprisingly challenged for the Premier League title, so it came as a bit of a surprise when he made the move to Bayer Leverkusen.
Of course, Arsenal certainly did their bit to replace Xhaka by bringing in Declan Rice and Kai Havertz as two new midfielders, but many fans will no doubt wonder why Mikel Arteta allowed such a top player to move on, especially as his superb form has continued at his new club this season.
There had been speculation about Xhaka’s decision and how it might be related to his family, or more specifically his wife, but he’s now spoken about those rumours and denied them.
It seems Xhaka and his family all found it difficult to leave London as they were very settled here, so it would appear that there’s no truth to the idea that his wife was the driving force behind the move.
“To be honest, she was against it,” Xhaka told The Athletic. “Not against us going to Leverkusen, but against us leaving London.
“If you’ve lived in London once, you want to stay there — especially with the family. We thought it through a lot. ‘What do we do with school?’; my kids were born there, they had made so many friends.
“But in the end, it was an easy decision, for my wife and kids as well, because they saw the plan behind it.”
More must-reads: